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Biomedical subjects

C Borque Andrés

Publications and source records attributed to C Borque Andrés.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

[Tuberculous meningitis: a review of 27 years].

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the features and outcome of children with tuberculous meningitis (TM) in a tertiary hospital in Madrid, with special emphasis on the possible influence of HIV infection, immigration and withdrawal of the Bacille-Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine in Madrid in 1987. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of patients with TM diagnosed over a 27-year period (1977-2003). TM was diagnosed on the basis of compatible cytochemical findings in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), plus a) isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in CSF or gastric fluid; b) positive Mantoux test, or c) previous contact with active tuberculosis. RESULTS: Twenty-eight cases of TM were diagnosed. There were 24 cases (85 %) in the first 14 years versus only four cases (15 %) in the last 13 years. None of the children was co-infected with HIV. The median age was 3 years and 4 months. Only two of these had received the BCG vaccine. The source of infection was identified in 64 %. At admission, 57 % had nuchal rigidity, 46 % had neurological focality, and 54 % had an abnormal chest roentgenogram. The Mantoux purified protein derivative (PPD) test was positive in 89 % at diagnosis. Zhiel-Nielsen smear in CSF was positive in 3.5 %, and a positive culture from CSF was obtained in 32 %. Computed tomography scan was performed in 22 children and showed hydrocephalus in 90 %. All patients were treated with four drugs, with no significant adverse events. Corticoids (89 %), ventricular-peritoneal shunt (43 %) and antiepileptic drugs (39 %) were widely used as complementary treatments. Mortality was 12 %. Half of the patients had sequels, which were mostly permanent. The most frequent and severe complication was neurodevelopmental delay (21 %). Severe sequels occurred in children with more advanced stages of illness. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of TM has decreased in the last 15 years, despite the emergence of HIV and immigration from countries where tuberculosis is endemic. These data are in agreement with the general reduction of the incidence of TM in our environment. Withdrawal of the BCG vaccine in Madrid in 1987 did not increase cases of TM in our hospital; on the contrary, these have decreased. A considerable percentage of children with advanced stages of TM show severe sequels.

BCG Vaccine↗

[Incidence and clinical characteristics of Kawasaki's disease].

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence and clinical spectrum of Kawasaki's disease in children attended in our hospital. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective review of all children with Kawasaki's disease evaluated in the Department of Infectious Diseases of Hospital La Paz (Madrid, Spain) from January 1999 to June 2002. Information included clinical manifestations, age, sex, seasonal occurrence, treatment, development of cardiovascular abnormalities, and incidence rate. RESULTS: Forty-five patients with Kawasaki's disease were analyzed during the study period. Age ranged between 4 months and 13 years. Thirty-seven children were aged 5 years old or less and 15 children were younger than 2 years. The most common symptom was fever in 98 % of the patients. Five patients developed coronary aneurysms. Of these, four were aged less than 2 years and three were treated after the first week of onset of fever. The annual incidence rate in our health area was estimated at 15.1 cases per 100,000 children aged 5 years or less. CONCLUSIONS: The annual incidence rate for Kawasaki's disease in our area was similar to that in Europe and the United States. Coronary aneurysms were more common in children aged less than 2 years and in patients who received treatment after 1 week of the onset of fever.

Adolescent↗

[Acute mastoiditis: an increasing entity].

BACKGROUND: Mastoiditis used to be the most common complication of acute otitis media. However, once antibiotics became widely available, it was rarely reported. Recently, this complication has become more frequent. OBJECTIVES: To determine the frequency of acute mastoiditis in our center in the last few years and to analyze the clinical and bacteriologic characteristics of the patients with this diagnosis. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of all patients admitted to our hospital with a diagnosis of acute mastoiditis from 1994-2001. RESULTS: One hundred patients were diagnosed with acute mastoiditis during the study period. The mean age was 2 years and 10 months (range: 2 months-13 years) and the median age was 15 months. The mean number of episodes was 12.5 cases of acute mastoiditis per year, but 52 % of the cases occurred from 1999-2001. Culture of middle ear effusions was performed in 47 patients, revealing Streptococcus pneumoniae in 17, Haemophilus influenzae in 3, and other pathogens in 10 children. Cultures were sterile in 17 patients. Three children did not respond to medical therapy and required mastoidectomy. CONCLUSIONS: In the last few years, the incidence of acute mastoiditis in our population has increased considerably. This complication is more common in children aged less than 2 years.

Acute Disease↗

[Bacterial meningitis in pediatrics. Study of 166 cases].

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of meningitis in our environment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of 166 cases of meningitis diagnosed in our hospital during a 10 year period (1986-1995) was performed. The patients were between 1 month and 14 years of age. RESULTS: Sixty-six percent of the patients were male and 34% female. Eleven cases were younger than 2 months (6.6%), 122 cases (73.5%) were between 3 months and 5 years of age and 33 cases (19.9%) were older than 5 years. The most frequent symptoms and signs were fever (96%), vomiting (60%), impairment of consciousness (24%) and meningeal signs (49%). CSF cultures were positive in 52% and blood cultures in 32%. The pathogen isolated was N. meningitidis in 53 cases (32%), H. influenzae in 38 (23%), S. pneumoniae in 9 patients (5%) and others in 3 children (2%). Meningitis due to H. influenzae increased each year. No microorganism was isolated in blood and CSF in 63 cases (38%). Meningitis in children between 3 months and 5 years of age was due to N. meningitidis in 40 children (33%) and H. influenzae in 36 (29%). The mortality rate was 3%. The most frequent complications were sepsis (36%) and seizures (16%). CONCLUSIONS: The most frequently isolated agent in our study was N. meningitis. Meningitis due to H. influenzae is increasing such that H. influenzae and N. meningitis currently show similar frequency in children between 3 months and 5 years of age.

Adolescent↗

[Whooping cough: a retrospective study of the cases diagnosed over a period of 15 years].

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to study the whooping cough cases diagnosed in a 15-year period in our hospital, referring to its clinical features, epidemiology and analytical findings. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective study based on 144 cases with a clinical diagnosis of whooping cough, from 1981 to 1995, was carried out. Special attention was paid to those cases with cultures positive for B. pertussis. RESULTS: Nasopharyngeal specimens for culture were taken in 119 cases. This was not carried-out in those with previous antibiotic therapy. Cultures were positive for B. pertussis in 46 patients (38.7%). The age varied between 20 days and 30 months. Twenty-one were female. The initial symptoms were: paroxysmal cough in 44 (95.7%), cyanosis in 34 (73.9%), inspiratory whoop in 27 (58.7%), respiratory distress in 12 (26.1%) and post-tussive vomiting in 10 (21.7%). Thirty-nine children (84.8%) of this group had not received any pertussis vaccine, the rest had received just the first dose. It had been contacted by persons having cough in 19 patients (41.3%). Leukocytosis (mean: 19,818/mm3), lymphocytosis (mean: 13,047/mm3) and high platelet count (mean 459,522/mm3) were common findings. CONCLUSIONS: Cultures were positive in 38.7% of the patients. There are similar findings by other authors. In this group, most of the children were unvaccinated, and less than 3 months of age. Typical symptoms of pertussis were observed in the majority of patients. In one forth of them respiratory distress was found, probably related to their young age. Vaccinated adults emerge as a contact group that should be studied.

Bordetella pertussis↗

[Encephalitis due to measles].

OBJECTIVE: We present seven cases of acute encephalitis following measles, which were diagnosed during the epidemic that occurred in Spain in 1986. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We studied seven patients diagnosed of encephalitis due to measles. The diagnosis of measles was a made by the presence of a characteristic morbiliform rash and the detection of specific IgM antibodies. The diagnosis of encephalitis was based on the symptoms and the routine examinations of blood, CSF, EEG, CT, ophthalmic exploration and the study of the audiovisual evoked potentials. RESULTS: The patients were between 5 and 9 years of age. None of them had been previously vaccinated for measles. The symptoms of encephalitis occurred 1 to 12 days after the appearance of the rash and the most frequent symptoms were drowsiness and vomiting. All of the patients had EEG abnormalities that returned to normal 1 to 18 months after the diagnosis. One patient presented CT abnormalities. CSF examination revealed an increase of the cell count in one case. The ophthalmic exploration was normal except in one of the patients which had optic neuritis. There were no abnormalities in the audiovisual evoked potentials. All of the cases showed good evolution. Five years later, all of the patients have had a normal development. CONCLUSIONS: The correct vaccination of measles can eradicate this disease.

Child↗

[Kawasaki disease; complications and clinical course. Apropos of 38 cases].

Between January 1978 and December 1991, 38 patients who fulfilled the CDC (Center for Disease Control) criteria for Kawasaki syndrome were admitted to our hospital. We reviewed the clinical data, laboratory tests, ECG and serial echocardiographic studies in order to establish the characteristics of the disease in our environment. There were 23 males and 15 females. The age at presentation ranged from 4 months to 10 years (mean 3.5 years). Extracardiac complications were as follows: arthritis in 12 patients, vesicular hydrops in 2, urinary tract infection in 1 and lymphocytic meningitis in 1. Cardiac involvement was frequent, with 35% of the patients being diagnosed with coronary pathologies (dilatation of coronary arteries in 9 and aneurysm formations in 4). The most usual location of these anomalies was in the left main coronary artery. By the end to the follow-up period, 71% of the lesions had disappeared. The time necessary for this regression was related to the size of the abnormalities. The high incidence of cardiac involvement make it necessary to follow these patients for a period of time in order to prevent or to treat the later occurring sequelae.

Arthritis↗

[Pulmonary tuberculosis in infants: apropos of 149 cases].

One hundred and forty-nine cases of childhood pulmonary tuberculosis were analysed being a 77.6% of the 192 cases of tuberculosis diagnosed at the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Department of "La Paz" Hospital, in a ten year period. The children were aged 3 months to 14 years; 65% of them were less than 6 years of age. The source case was found in 67.1% of the children. The primary means of diagnosis was contact screening (38.1%), followed by a 27.5% that presented with non-specific symptoms, while 18.1% of the cases presented with respiratory symptoms. Gastric aspirates yield the organism in 25.8% of cases. Radiologically the following was found: 38.9% mixed patterns, 32.2% nodal patterns, 23.4% parenchymal patterns, 1.34 miliary tuberculosis, 1.34% caverns and 2.68% pleural effusions. Right lung location was more frequent in parenchymatous forms (68%), as well as in nodal forms (61.5%). The duration of the course of therapy changed along this ten years period: from twelve months initially to ten months posteriorly, subsequently becoming a six month course of treatment. All cases experienced full recovery.

Adolescent↗

[Short term treatment of infantile pulmonary tuberculosis].

Due to the scarcity of published articles on short-course chemotherapeutic regimens for pediatric pulmonary tuberculosis, the following study has been carried out: Twenty-five children diagnosed of pulmonary tuberculosis were administered a short course therapeutic regimen consisting of three tuberculostatics for the first two month (isoniazid, rifampicin and pyrazinamide) and only two (isoniazid and rifampicin) for the following four months. The results were compared with those obtained from a control group of twenty-five children receiving the "classical" therapy: two drugs (isoniazid and rifampicin) for a nine month period. The statistical analysis did not demonstrate any significant difference related to evolution, duration and complications of the disease, between both groups. Therefore, this short course therapeutic regimen could be accepted for pediatric pulmonary tuberculosis.

Antitubercular Agents↗

[Comparative course of pneumonia with suppuration].

Certain clinical, biochemical, bacteriologic and radiographic parameters are compared, as well as the evolution and treatment of two groups of purulent pneumonias followed during the two trienniums 1968-1970 and 1980-1982. In the more recent triennium stands on the decrease in the incidence of this type of pneumoniae as well as a shorter hospital admittance and a lesser need for surgical therapy.

Adolescent↗